GRILLED EGGPLANT & PEPPER SALAD

By BobD

Ingredients

• Many versions of this salad are made throughout the Mediterranean. This one, slightly spicy, is North African. When grilling whole eggplants, seek out smaller ones, as they will grill more quickly and evenly than the large, bulbous ones.
• 2 1/2 pounds eggplants
• 2 green or red bell peppers, or 1 of each
• 3 to 6 mildly hot chilies, like anaheims
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
• 1 garlic clove, puréed
• 2 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley, mint or cilantro

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from nytimes.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Prepare a hot grill. Pierce the eggplants in several places with the tip of a knife. Grill the eggplants, peppers and chilies, turning them every four to five minutes until blackened all over and soft. The chilies will be done first, then the bell peppers, then the eggplants (timing depends upon the size). Remove the chilies and bell peppers, place in a bowl and cover tightly. Let sit 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer the eggplant as it’s done to the bowl. Cover and allow to sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Pour off any liquid from the bowl.

2. Peel and seed the peppers. Cut into small dice. Peel the eggplant if desired, and chop and toss with the peppers. Add salt to taste, the lemon or lime juice, garlic, olive oil and herbs. Stir together well, and let sit for another 30 minutes or longer if possible. Serve at room temperature.

Variation: A Catalan version of this, escalivada, omits the chilies and herbs but includes a couple of tomatoes and four spring onions, which are grilled with the other vegetables. About twice as much olive oil would be used in an authentic escalivada, but I prefer the amount called for in this recipe.

Advance preparation: The mixture will taste even better if it sits for anywhere between 30 minutes and a few hours.